Video Games CAN be a Money Trap

The first time I was ever introduced to video games was when my family got an Sega Dreamcast. We absolutely loved it. I got super addicted to it very fast. But I was young and didn't have much money back then. Over the years, our family got new game systems starting with N64, then PS2, X-Box, and so on till now. And over those years, I got games either through my birthday or through Christmas. No money spent for video games was awesome!

It wasn't till I hit the age of 16 where I got a job when I realized that video gaming can be a pretty fast money trap. I started spending as soon as I got my paycheck on the new games either for my iPod or the current game system that we had. It felt great to have that game as soon as you bought it and take it home, but it sucked knowing that you don't have much money left because of that big purchase. The consequences weren't too severe when I did this when I was young seeing that I didn't have to pay any bills or rent or much anything.

Through my Church mission, one of the things you learn is how to manage your money seeing that you get so much or your own money that you payed for your mission per month. It was really nice to get that idea and it help us in more months than not to manage our spending. But when I got home after, I had access to all of my money again and I hadn't really played any games during those 2 years while I was gone. "I had to catch up to gaming!" I kept telling myself and I just kept spending and spending money on games. Sometimes even peer pressure from friends who told me that I "NEEDED" to get this game or new system even worked. Again, that feeling of getting that game at first felt great! But after a time, I started to question why I even bought those games. I hardly played them. I just got them because either I was told I needed to or just jumped too fast to the purchase.

Now you notice that in the title it says "can" in all caps. Some people are very excellent of not falling into this trap and can manage their money very well and still buy games when they feel like it is right. But for others, we can jump on these purchases too fast and before we know it, our money is gone. Sure, there can be some deals that will be there, but we also have to be careful to not jump on too many of those as well or we lose track.

I still like playing video games today. But now, I research about the game to see whether or not if it is a game I would play quite a bit. Not just a game that seems very short and I can get it done in a day. But also I need to be careful that a game doesn't occupy all of my time. I want a game where it's something worth the money I spent on it, not just a $60 drop on something I will hardly even touch.

In today's gaming world, we see many times where you can buy a game, but if you want more you can buy these packs called DLC (Downloadable Content). You pay extra money for these and most of them are hit or miss.

This can also be applied to many other things, but I found this certain experience the one that I have to deal with every day. I sometimes got to GameStop or the electronic section in a store and it take a lot of will power to not purchase anything there. It is exceedingly difficult to see something that is the hit of video games and saying to yourself, "I don't need it". If you ever go into video gaming, just be very careful with your money.

I just needed to get this off my chest. I have seen many people who use all the money they earn and it is gone the next day and they have to work to get it all back to do the same thing again. Video gaming can be so much fun and even better with your friends. But it isn't worth the sacrifice of hundreds of dollars that you spend on games you don't need.